Hearts in Harmony
by CoyotePlatinum
Summary: Lonely trans lady Twilight Sparkle hasn't seen Rainbow Dash in years, but after a chance encounter, she sets out on a personal journey to revive their long dead relationship and re-learn the magic of friendship through the medium of Duel Monsters.


**Hearts in Harmony**

 **Chapter I**

 _ **A Colorful Reunion**_

 **-TWILIGHT SPARKLE-**

"Twilight Sparkle!"

The sound of my named being called by a shrill voice woke me from my sleep. I groggily grumbled as I tried to ignore it.

"Twilight Sparkle!"

My attempts to ignore it weren't working so I rolled over and put a pillow over my head.

"Twilight!

Sparkle!"

I groaned miserably as I recognized the voice as that of my pal Pinkie Pie, yelling my name from outside my bedroom window. Why, or _how_ , she was yelling in my second story window though, I dreaded to find out.

I woozily dragged myself out of bed, my clothes from the previous day still on me and my purple hair a frazzled mess that framed my dark tan skinned face the way a cloud of dust frames the remnants of an exploded ruin… or something to that effect.

There wasn't a lot of space in the loft that acted as my bedroom so my eyes were barely open when I walked over to the window, only to find no trace of my noisy friend, until…

"TWILIGHT!"

Pinkie's face suddenly appearing in the window and screaming my name was enough to startle me into a scream of my own, and I stumbled backward a few steps, misplacing my foot on the staircase to my bedroom and falling backwards down the stairs, tumbling like a slinky the whole way down.

" _PINKIE!"_ I screamed in frustration.

"That's me!" She replied.

I marched back up the stairs and opened the window, looking down to my front yard below to see a chubby, pink curly-haired and light brown skinned girl in bright pink clothing jumping from a trampoline on the lawn all the way up to my second story bedroom and then falling back down again, only to leap right back up.

"How are you jumping that high on an ordinary trampoline?" I leaned out the window and looked fascinatedly at Pinkie as she passed by me on her way back down from a jump.

"I dunno." She said with a sunny smile as she jumped up. "I've learned not to question things." She continued as she fell back down.

"Okay… well do you want to tell me _why_ you're jumping up and down outside my window on a trampoline?" I rubbed my temples, exasperated that I even had to ask that question. I loved Pinkie to death but she could give me one heck of a headache sometimes.

"Oh yeah!" Pinkie said with another jump, continuing her sentence as she bounced right past me. "…let me in though?" was all I was able to make out.

"I'd love to let you in, Pinkie, but how are you going to stop bouncing on that trampoline without hurting yourself?" I was genuinely perplexed on how she managed to get herself into this peculiar scenario, but then again I wasn't exactly surprised considering this was Pinkie Pie I was dealing with.

"Ummmmmm…" Pinkie put a finger to her lips as she tried to think. A couple bounces without a word, just that same thoughtful expression, or at least as thoughtful as Pinkie could muster, and then she beamed as she thought of an idea. You could practically see the lightbulb appear over her head. "Oh! I have a perfect plan, Twilight!"

"What is it?" I rested my elbow on the window sill and placed my chin onto my hand. I couldn't wait to hear Pinkie's insane solution to her trampoline problem.

"Catch me!" Before I could react to that ridiculous statement Pinkie thrusted herself forward as she sprang up to my floor and launched herself at me, charging through the open window and knocking me over, and pushing us both back with enough force to send us tumbling down the stairs yet again.

I was speechless. All I could do was glare bemusedly at the pink-haired chubby girl sitting on top of me, her big blue puppy-dog eyes staring right at me like she thought this couldn't have gone any better. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Pinkie Pie… you're so…" I chuckled as Pinkie helped me get to my feet.

"Random?" Pinkie helpfully finished my sentence. I nodded and she reacted with a big goofy grin. You couldn't help but love this girl.

The first thing most people noticed about Pinkie Pie is that she was overweight. She was a short girl, in the 'under five-feet club' as Pinkie herself would put it, and she had more than just a small bit of belly fat. She didn't mind it though and was pretty body positive. No surprise there considering that Pinkie Pie was positive about almost everything.

She had light brown skin and bright pink curly hair, and an impressive mane of it at that, rolling down her shoulders and framing her whole face, you would swear you could get lost in the stuff! She had a tendency to wear fairly loose clothing, her pink tank-top and pink striped leggings with a little balloon graphic on the hip being her favorite go-to outfit, plus of course her signature pair of pink croc shoes which I affectionately referred to as her clown shoes.

"So, why all the yelling and the trampolining and the barging through my window, Pinkie?" I took a look at the clock and was dismayed to see it read 10:31. "Especially this _earrrrrly_." I groaned, dragging my hands tiredly down my face.

"Oh, is it early?" Pinkie said while bouncing around my living room. "I've been up for like four hours and I've had six cups of coffee so time and space have no meaning to me!"

"Of course, I should've known." I made a tired groan as I walked into my tiny kitchen to get myself some coffee, only to have Pinkie hand me a cup from who-knows-where. "How did you…" I shook my head and took the coffee from her, sitting down on a stool at my little round dining table by the window. Like Pinkie said, sometimes it's best not to ask questions.

"Are you excited, Twilight!? Are you ready to party!?" Pinkie slammed her hands on the table and looked me straight in the eye with a ferocious glare, or at least the happy-go-lucky Pinkie Pie version of a ferocious glare.

"For what exactly?" I took a sip from my coffee.

"The tournament quarter-finals of course!" Pinkie threw her arms in the air and scoffed dramatically. "By this time tomorrow you and I will be heading for our final match! A life or death struggle from which there can be only a single victor! The final battle of a lifetime, a match that will go down in the history books as one of the toughest, hardest, most grueling showdowns of all time!"

"Pinkie, it's just a local tournament at our nearby bookstore." I blew on my coffee to cool it a little. "The stakes aren't exactly that high."

"Oh where's your sense of drama, Twilight?" Pinkie winked at me and stuck out her tongue. "Besides, the winner of the tournament gets to pick one of three rare cards, and I've got my eye on that Naturia Beast!"

"Really? Your deck doesn't even use Synchro Monsters." I arched an eyebrow, taking another sip of my drink.

"I know! But I wanna give the card to Fluttershy as a gift!" Pinkie said with a bright smile and held her hands in front of her, not unlike Fluttershy would do.

"Fluttershy? What do you mean? Why her?" I was puzzled, but intrigued. Fluttershy stopped playing Duel Monsters years ago so I wasn't sure why Pinkie thought giving her a rare card was a smart idea.

"Fluttershy told me _in confidence_ " Pinkie leaned really close to me as she said that "that she maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaybe wants to start playing again!" Pinkie was bouncing up and down in delight as she talked about this and I couldn't tell if it was because she was genuinely excited, if it was all the caffeine she had or if she was just being Pinkie Pie. Probably all. "She says she's been hearing us talk so much about our games lately that she's starting to remember how much fun it is! Isn't that _awesome_!?"

"Yeah, actually that is awesome, Pinkie!" I couldn't deny that I was getting a little overeager about the idea of Fluttershy picking up Duel Monsters again. Nothing made me happier than connecting with my friends over shared passions, and there was nothing I was more passionate about than Duel Monsters!

"Then come on! We gotta go!" Pinkie started yanking on my arm. "Fluttershy's gonna watch our matches today so we gotta pick her up before we get to the shop! Letsgoletsgoletsgoletsgoletsgo!"

By the time I could even think to formulate words to respond, Pinkie had already dragged me halfway out the door.

"Hold on, Pinkie." I dug my heels into the ground and got a firm grip on the front doorframe to stop Pinkie from dragging me kicking and screaming outside. "You know I need to freshen up before I leave the house."

"Ohhhh right, because you've got that whole… thing…" Pinkie blushed from embarrassment. My whole 'thing' was that I'm transgender. So is Pinkie, and our whole little group of friends for that matter. It's something we all had in common, something we bonded over that nobody else really understood. But Pinkie and I had very different ways of dealing with it; she hardly thought about it at all, or at least she didn't talk about it often, but I couldn't _stop_ thinking about it. I couldn't afford to, especially when I left the house.

"Yeah, that whole thing." I chuckled bashfully. Of the six of us, I'm pretty sure I was the most self-conscious about my gender. I liked to pretend I was normal and not… strange. That was one of the things that drew me to my group of friends, they didn't make me feel weird or out of place because of it, they made me feel… safe.

"That's totally fine! I'll wait here." Pinkie planted herself on my living room couch. "I can be patient." She said with a kind smile, kicking her feet off the couch.

I smiled back and headed to the bathroom to put on makeup and stuff. Not two steps into that trek before Pinkie says "HURRY UP TWILIGHT!" and making me jump. I looked back at her with a disgruntled glare. "Do you feel motivated yet?" She gave a glittery grin.

"Surprisingly, no." I said with a soft chuckle. It was hard to stay mad at Pinkie Pie.

"Oh." She nodded solemnly, before yelling again "HURRY UP AND FEEL MOTIVATED TWILIGHT!"

"You know, you could wait outside." I said teasingly. I couldn't tell if I was actually annoyed or really found this funny, or both.

"I could!" Pinkie nodded and then went back to just kicking her feet on the couch. I gave her a bemused scowl for a few seconds and she looked back at me, getting startled for a brief moment before jumping off the couch with an embarrassed smile and saying "And I will!"

"I'll only be a second." I said to Pinkie as she headed out the door and I headed for the bathroom.

I groaned audibly as I saw myself in the bathroom mirror.

"Look at yourself, Twilight Sparkle." I said dismally. "You're just so… bleehch."

My hair hadn't been combed or cut in two years, it was starting to fall below my waist, without makeup on I looked like a tan-skinned troglodyte and my clothes were incredibly ugly. A plum colored sweater and gray sweat pants, an outfit that told everyone in the room 'I am unattractive and I know it'.

The amount of effort it took to make all this presentable, and suitably feminine so as to pass as a 'cis-lady™' was almost not worth it. The only thing that made me bother with the whole routine was the constant worry of a lynch mob if even one person clocked me as trans. Then again, my anxiety being what it was, I worried about being violently killed for no reason even before discovering my gender identity. So usually I just never left the house.

But with a little moisturizer, some eyeliner, some brushing here and contouring there, and of course a high-necked sweater to cover up the gross man-lump in my neck, I was able to look like an incredibly frumpy and unattractive woman! Which was good enough! Time to attack the day, or at least wander through it and hope not to be noticed!

It was a lovely day in our hometown of Fillydelphia as the sun shone down on Pinkie and I during our trip to our friend Fluttershy's house. Hers was a lovely suburban home with a sprawling front yard and even the oh-so-clichéd white picket fence.

Pinkie pranced up the red brick road to the door ahead of me, knocking several times on the dark green oak door in rapid succession before Fluttershy answered it.

"Oh, hello girls." Fluttershy's timid voice was barely audible to me as I walked up next to Pinkie in front of the door.

Fluttershy was short, although not as short as Pinkie. She had brown skin that made her aqua-colored eyes really shine, although she would never accept a compliment like that. Her hair was a pale pink and almost as long as mine, reaching the small of her back. Unlike mine, it was clean and kept up, tied in a neat braid that she sometimes wore in front of her over her shoulder. Her bangs almost covered her right eye and the red dot in the center of her forehead that symbolized her religious and family heritage.

Her fashion sense was similar to mine in that she wore loose, unflattering clothing so she could go unnoticed by most people. She wore an oversized pale yellow hoodie over white jeans, and dark blue sandals for some reason. Rarity would have hated that combination almost as much as she hated Pinkie's propensity to wear leggings as pants.

"Hello Fluttershy!" Pinkie loudly exclaimed while waving her arms in the air excitedly. "Are you ready for a super duper spectaculariffic day of extremely awesome and amazingtacular fun times!? I said 'tacular' twice but that's just how spectacular it's gonna be!" Pinkie's beaming smile was practically too big for her face and it amazed me that her cheeks didn't hurt all the time.

"I think so, I just-" before Fluttershy could finish an annoying noise interrupted her.

"Fluttershyyyy, you forgot to cut the crusts off my sandwich!" Zephyr Breeze, Fluttershy's obnoxious and lazy older brother, and also roommate, walked up behind her and whined.

"Oh, I'm sorry Zephyr." Fluttershy bowed her head toward Zephyr and began to walk back into the house before turning back to Pinkie and I to say "Will you excuse me, girls? I'll only be one second."

"No problem!" Pinkie gave a salute.

"Yyyeah. Sure." I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms, letting out a bemused sigh as Fluttershy disappeared inside her house and Zephyr took her place. Zephyr also had brown skin, although considerably lighter than Fluttershy's, and his blonde hair was tied into a messy bun atop his head, his fuzzy caveman stubble not exactly helping his dignity.

"Heeey, Twilight." Zephyr tried to lean against the doorframe but he misjudged the distance and almost fumbled to the ground, clumsily saving himself and making finger guns at me. "Come to see your old pal Zephyr Breeze, am I right? Well I've been preeeety busy lately, but I might be able to squeeze in some time for my favorite girl."

"What have you been busy with?" I stated. "Taking a lot of great naps lately? Coming up with new excuses not to get a job? Reading books on how to be the most insufferable human being on the face of Equestria?"

"Ouch, harsh words, Twilight." Zephyr put his hand up to his forehead and mock-swooned. "If I believed you really meant all those things, I would be hurt! But I know you're just negging, am I right?"

"Yup. Negging." I said through gritted teeth. "That's a thing that I do all the time. All. The. Time."

"Here you go, Zephyr." Fluttershy said politely, handing Zephyr Breeze a sandwich cut diagonally with the crusts cut off.

"Ooh! Thank you Fluttershy!" Zephyr gave Fluttershy a little kiss on the cheek which made her smile. "I'll catch you girls later. See ya, Twilight." Zephyr went back into the house but not before winking at me a blowing a kiss my way, and I swear if it had any tangible form I would have caught it out of the air with my fist and crushed it.

"Now I've already made you dinner and wrapped it up in the microwave," Fluttershy said to Zephyr as he was headed back to his lazy couch "and I've set up your DVR so you don't miss your shows, and I've cleaned up your studio space. Now I'm gonna go out with my friends, okay?"

"Okay Fluttershy! I'll try to go on without you while you're out!" Zephyr said, melodramatically falling onto the couch. "Have a nice time!"

"Thank you, I will." Fluttershy blurted with a smile, her fingers fidgeting anxiously. "Shall we?" She held out her hands for Pinkie and I to hold and we both gladly did so, walking hand-in-hand back to the sidewalk until Pinkie merrily pranced ahead of us.

"You know, you really should move out of that guy's house." I asserted, looking down at Fluttershy and still holding her hand as we walked down the sidewalk.

"But it's _our_ house." Fluttershy wrapped a strand of hair around her finger, an obvious nervous habit. "Our parents gave it to the both of us."

"That may be, but it's not _your_ things that take up all the space!" I shuddered as I thought about the mess that was Fluttershy's house, clothes and toys and other unidentifiable objects constantly littering the ground. It was amazing that she didn't trip constantly. I mean, my house wasn't much cleaner but I was the only one who lived there. " _He's_ not the one doing all the cooking, the cleaning, the… DVRing, for some reason?"

"Oh, technology overwhelms him." Fluttershy muttered and I let out an instinctive sigh. "But he likes his stories. And besides, they're always on in the afternoons when he takes his naps, so if I didn't DVR them for him he might miss them or have to choose between them and his naps!"

"Good gracious." I commented, my tone completely flat. "Look Fluttershy, if you continue to let Zephyr Breeze push you around, he's just going to take advantage of you forever!"

"No, that's not true." Fluttershy protested and squeezed my hand. I could tell she was legitimately upset by it was still cute how tender her grip was. "Zephyr and I love each other, he would never try to take advantage of me! And after all, he's my brother and it's completely okay to put up with some of his eccentricities."

"He doesn't have to _try_ to take advantage of you, Fluttershy, when you so easily _let_ him! And besides…" I took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. This conversation, and Fluttershy's relationship with her brother in general, reminded me of some heavy personal stuff and I didn't want to get too worked up. "Just because you love someone, and they love you, that doesn't mean you're good for each other."

Fluttershy was quiet for a while and I started drifting off into my own thoughts, thinking about my family and wondering if I missed them at all.

"You could always move in with me!" Pinkie shoved herself in between Fluttershy and I, putting her arms around both of us.

"Um, but Pinkie, you can't… um…" Fluttershy nervously stammered and tapped her fingers together, trying to find a polite way of phrasing her problem, but I was a lot more blunt.

"Pinkie, you can't pay your own rent." I mentioned. Pinkie's hair briefly lost its poofiness and her eyes became distant for a second before her lights came back on and her hair sprung back to normal.

"Then Fluttershy can live with me until we get kicked out and then we can be box buddies!" She said cheerfully, turning to Fluttershy, who was taken aback but still cautiously amused by Pinkie's enthusiasm, and grabbing her hands. "Then you can gather up all the alleyway critters like raccoons and bats and squirrels and bears and we can take over this city! Pinkie and Fluttershy, rulers of man and beast!"

"I don't think that's going to work, Pinkie." Fluttershy said with a soft giggle. I decided not to rain on Pinkie's parade by pointing out that bears don't live in cities.

"Well, all that aside," I cleared my throat, thinking that it might be good to change the subject "Pinkie says you're interested in learning Duel Monsters again, Fluttershy?" Fluttershy nodded bashfully, stroking her braid.

"Shhhh!" Pinkie swiftly put her hand over my mouth and her face right up against mine, cheek to cheek, and side-eyed Fluttershy. "She told me that _in confidence_! You can't just go around revealing other peoples' secrets!"

"Pinkie, I was revealing it to _herself_." I said, my voice muffled by Pinkie's hand.

"Oh yeah!" Pinkie giggled, taking her hand back and bouncing away. "Carry on then!"

"So what made you change your mind?" I gave my attention back to Fluttershy, more than eager to find out why she decided to start playing again.

"Well, it's just that…" Fluttershy twiddled her fingers anxiously, staring at the ground instead of looking at me. It was okay though, I had a hard time making eye contact too. "You and Pinkie have so much fun, and I still remember how much fun I used to have before… before people started taking the game too seriously."

"Yeah, we've all been there." I put my hand on Fluttershy's shoulder and rubbed up and down with my thumb. "Unfortunately, dealing with jerky players is a part of playing the game sometimes."

"I know, and that makes me really nervous…" Fluttershy sighed, holding herself and rubbing her arms. She was clearly concerned about this decision but a smile was fighting its way back onto her face. "But… but you guys just get so… lit up about it! And… and… and I want to share that with you guys… again."

"Well I think that's great, Fluttershy!" I gave my friend a supportive pat on the shoulder.

"Me too!" Pinkie jumped onto and embraced Fluttershy out of nowhere in a big bear hug, taking the poor girl by surprising and completely knocking the wind out of her.

"It's just that…" Fluttershy struggled to speak while being crushed by Pinkie but was too polite to tell Pinkie to stop, so I grabbed Pinkie by the hair and pulled her away. "I don't really remember how to play."

"Oh that's easy!" Pinkie said excitedly… I say as if she doesn't say _everything_ excitedly. "There's Monsters and Spells and Trap Cards, and you can only Normal Summon once per turn and you have to Tribute Monsters to summon Monsters Level 5 or higher and you can only play Spells on your turn, unless it's a Quick-Play Spell, and you can only play Traps after they've been put face-down on the field for a turn, not to mention Synchro, Fusion and Xyz Monsters which are stored in the Extra Deck and you can summon them by…"

"I think that's enough of the tutorial, Pinkie." I laughed into my hand, seeing Fluttershy's eyes widen unto infinity as she completely failed to grasp any of what Pinkie was saying. "Don't worry, Fluttershy, it'll all come back to you as you watch us, promise." Fluttershy's sweet smile responding to that was worth her weight in gold.

Our local Fillydelphia bookstore was cute and cozy, with dark hardwood floors at the entrance that lead into carpet in the main areas, and of course rows and rows of wonderful, fantastic smelling books! But it wasn't just the musty book smell that made this place a treat for the nose, because there was a little coffee shop that operated inside the store that filled the air with the mesmerizing aroma of coffee.

There was an area in the center of the store that had been converted into an arena for the Duel Monsters tournament and many excited players and fans were buzzing about getting ready to watch the games, creating a larger crowd inside the store than usual, which was a little overwhelming for Fluttershy and I.

Pinkie's eyes darted around eagerly as she scanned the crowd looking for something or someone specific, but I didn't pay it much mind since Pinkie was _always_ eager about something. I gave my focus to Fluttershy instead and wanted to make sure that she was okay in the big crowd.

"Are you going to be alright, Fluttershy?" I grabbed Fluttershy's hand gently, partly so that she would feel safe and partly so that I would.

"Oh, um, yes." She said meekly.

"You sure?" I inspected, raising an eyebrow. I could never take Fluttershy's first yes seriously, because it was almost impossible to tell if she actually meant yes or was just saying it because she thought that's what I would want to hear.

"Yes Twilight, I think I'll be okay." She said with a delightful smile, and now I could tell she was being genuine. "Thank you for your concern, but… I really want to watch you guys play, and besides, with my friends around me I don't feel so overwhelmed." I smiled at her kind sentiment and she blushed when she saw my smile of approval, then she looked around. "Speaking of, what happened to Pinkie Pie?"

"HEY GUYS! OVER HERE!" Pinkie's piercing shriek that sent shockwaves through the bookstore quelled any ambiguity over her location, causing everyone in the store to stop and glare at her.

"Not so loud, Pinkie! They're like ten feet away!" A raspy woman's voice chastised Pinkie. It was familiar and I immediately knew in my gut who it belonged to, but I didn't want to believe it.

"Well I wanted to make sure they heard me." Pinkie said with a giggle, causing the other woman to sigh.

As Fluttershy and I walked toward the arena and Pinkie I could see the woman she was talking to. She was a lean, muscular and athletic black girl with violet eyes that burned with intense passion. She was wearing a light blue midriff-baring tank-top and dark blue yoga pants that had the curious symbol of a cloud shooting a rainbow-colored lightning bolt on the hip.

The most striking thing about the girl though was her hair. It was shaved all on one side but wild and colorful on the other, it was bright yellow and orange that faded into red, and the long mane that fell behind her was various other shades of the rainbow.

"Rainbow Dash!" I exclaimed in surprise. "What are _you_ doing here?" My surprise quickly became annoyance once a flood of memories came surging back in.

" _Twilight?_ " She said in disgust, stomping her foot and crossing her arms. "Ugh, Pinkie you didn't tell me _she_ was gonna be here."

"I know!" Pinkie said with a smile, grabbing Rainbow's hand and dragging her closer to me, then grabbing my hand. "Because I knew you wouldn't come if I told you Twilight was gonna be here, but I think it's about time you two talked through your differences and became friends again!" Pinkie had the biggest, most idiotically naïve grin on her face as she said that, staring at Rainbow, then me, then Rainbow again waiting for one of us to do something, anything, other than just glare at her.

Rainbow Dash and I had been childhood friends. Her and I, Pinkie and Fluttershy, and our other friends Rarity and Applejack, used to all play Duel Monsters together. In fact, it was Rainbow that introduced all of us to the game. But that was a long time ago and we all grew up, and while most of us stayed friends, Rainbow and I argued more and more the older we got until eventually we couldn't stand each other anymore. I hadn't seen her in four years.

"As if!" Rainbow exclaimed, defiantly turning her head away from me. "If Twilight's still the same manipulative, argumentative, controlling jerk that she used to be, then count me out!"

"And if Rainbow's still the same arrogant, pushy, callous and stubborn jerk that _she's_ always been," I practically spit out those last few words "then I don't want to talk to her either!"

Rainbow and I both turned away from each other and I could feel my anger and bitterness burning a hole inside me. I wondered which of us was going to cave and storm out of here first, and to be honest I was pretty sure it was going to be me.

"Rainbow, Twilight, _please._ " Fluttershy begged, standing between Rainbow and I and grasping both of our hands softly. "Can't you two try to make peace? Talk things out and make amends? Please?" Fluttershy was on the verge of tears and neither Rainbow nor myself could ignore that.

"Fluttershy… I didn't see you there at first." Rainbow said quietly. "But look, I… I just can't. Twilight and I are…"

"Look Rainbow… if Fluttershy and Pinkie's insistence is anything to go on, it looks like we still have friends in common, and for their sake if nothing else…" I grumbled and rubbed my temples, having a brief flashback to one of my many arguments with Rainbow before forcing it out of my head. "I'm at least willing to _try_ and make peace."

"Oh yeah?" Rainbow looked at me with a gleaming grin. "Then prove it!"

"Prove it? How?" I tilted my head.

"With a duel!" Rainbow said as she brandished her Duel Disk, a light blue brick with a screen on it and a wrist strap attached, and attached it to her arm, putting her deck inside it.

"A duel?" I asked flatly. "How is that going to solve anything?"

"Are you kidding?!" Pinkie yelled, bouncing up and down as always. "A duel is a great idea! You guys can reminisce and play cards and work out your aggression and have fun and admire each other's cool decks and-"

"Pinkie could go on for like another hour, Twilight." Rainbow snickered. "You in?"

I folded my arms and grimaced thoughtfully, closing my eyes and tilting my head up as I considered the challenge. It wouldn't be a bad idea honestly, it would give me some good practice before the tournament matches start and it might be a way for Rainbow and I to communicate without using words, if that makes sense. On the other hand though, I knew how competitive Rainbow could get and she was a sore loser, and to be completely honest so was I.

"I think a duel would be a wonderful idea, Twilight." Fluttershy's demure voice broke my concentration. "I mean, I'm trying to get back into the game and what better way to start than by seeing a duel between my two friends, especially since Rainbow's the one who introduced me to it in the first place."

"Yeah, Twilight!" Rainbow gave me a playful shove and an even bigger grin. "How could you deny Fluttershy this once in a lifetime opportunity?"

"Yeah, Twilight! What she said!" Pinkie grabbed my shoulder and started shaking me. "Duel! Duel! Duel! Duel!" Pinkie started chanting, and Fluttershy (quietly) followed suit, and soon we had gathered a small crowd around us of random people all chanting for Rainbow and I to duel. There was no backing out of it now, but I couldn't say I minded all that much.

"Fine." I released a soft sigh and then donned my own confident grin, getting out my lavender Duel Disk and putting my deck into it. "Rainbow Dash, I accept your challenge! It's time to _duel!_ "

 **-DUEL!-**

 _Twilight Sparkle vs. Rainbow Dash_

Rainbow and I walked into the arena, standing on opposite ends as the duel began, both of us starting with 4000 Life Points each and five cards in our hands. We activated our Duel Disks, a tray of solid light appearing out of each of them for us to put our cards on.

"I'll go first," Rainbow flicked her hair back "since I'm the coolest one here."

"Sure." I just rolled my eyes.

"I'll summon Crystal Beast Topaz Tiger!" Rainbow exclaimed as her beast hit the field, a beautiful white tiger with a sharp horn and even sharper fangs. "And I'll equip it with this sweet Spell card, Crystal Release, which raises my Monster's ATK by 800!" Topaz Tiger was bathed in a rainbow colored aura and its ATK went from 1600 to 2400. "Beat that, Twilight!"

"I'll try my best." I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm.

While formidable, Rainbow's 2400 ATK Monster wasn't much of a threat to me.

I started my turn by drawing a card, and then summoned my own Monster, calling out its name. "Strength of Prophecy!" A red haired magician clad in red robes with light black armor, wielding a mace with a giant lion's head appeared on the battlefield, but with only 1500 ATK it was no match for Topaz Tiger, at least not alone.

"Now I'll activate my Spellbook of Power!" I said proudly, playing a Spell card that gave my magician a bright red book in her hand that glowed with a glimmering magical aura. "Spellbook of Power raises my Strength's ATK by 1000! Plus, I can activate Strength's Effect, which lets me put a Spellbook card from my graveyard back into the deck to give her another 500 ATK!"

I could see the look of annoyed realization on Rainbow's face as my move gave me the upper hand. My Strength of Prophecy shone in a radiant red light, her hair billowing in a powerful wind as she was surrounded by all this magical energy, her ATK increasing to 3000!

"Now attack that Topaz Tiger!" At my behest, my magician leapt into the air and swung her mace down on the tiger, shattering it into pieces. The difference between my Strength's ATK and the Tiger's ATK would be taken out of Rainbow's Life Points, in this case 600 which meant Rainbow's Life was left at 3400.

"Not bad, Twilight!" Rainbow sneered. "But my Topaz Tiger's special ability allows it to turn into a gem and get placed in my Spell\Trap zone instead of being destroyed!" True to Rainbow's words the tiger became a bright yellow crystal that rested in the air beside Rainbow. "Not only that, but when Crystal Release is sent to the graveyard, like when the monster it's equipped to gets destroyed for instance, I can put another Crystal Beast from my deck into my Spell\Trap zone!"

Another gem materialized next to the topaz, this one a bright blue stone.

"Well I get to activate an Effect too, Rainbow." I said, watching as the red book in my monster's hand began to glow again. "When a monster affected with the Spellbook of Power destroys a monster, I get to add another Spellbook card from my deck to my hand, and I choose Spellbook of the Master."

"That's great, Twilight, but just remember that the effect of your Spellbook of Power wears off after this turn's over, so your monster's gonna lose 1000 ATK!" Rainbow explained smugly, as if I didn't know what my own card did.

"Rrrr _ight_." I said, trying not to roll my eyes so hard they fell out of my head. "That's fine, I don't even need the power boost anymore. My turn is over." Just like Rainbow said, the bright red aura enveloping my magician dissipated once my turn ended, reducing Strength of Prophecy's ATK to 2000. The 500 point boost she received from her own Effect though was permanent.

"Now it's time to dash that thing out of existence!" Rainbow said with a satisfied smirk, drawing her card very melodramatically. "My turn!"

"Rainbow, if you don't mind my asking," I said tepidly, anxiously tapping my foot on the ground "why the change in decks? This deck isn't like the one you used to use at all."

"W-well, whatever." Rainbow stammered defensively. "What difference does it make? Everybody changes decks."

"I haven't." I said. "I've been using my magician cards since I was like five. And you _adored_ your old deck. You always went on and on about how great it was and how much you loved it. So what happened?"

"I, I just like to try new things, alright?" Rainbow snapped.

"That sounds legit!" Pinkie yelled from the sidelines.

"Hey, no one asked the peanut gallery!" Rainbow yelled, Pinkie giggling at her obvious annoyance.

"The girlfriend put you up to it?" I ventured with a disgruntled scowl. "She not like your old deck?"

"She… hey, shut up!" Rainbow's tone was harsh and abrasive and her cheeks were bright red. Clearly I had hit a nerve, but then again, arguments about Rainbow's _terrible_ girlfriend were the thing that really drove the wedge into our friendship in the first place. "The gf really likes gems and stuff, so I thought these cards would make her take an interest in Duel Monsters!"

"Did it work?" I asked listlessly, expecting an obvious answer.

"Um, no." And Rainbow delivered. "Look, whatever! That's not what matters right now! What matters is that I'm gonna clean your clock!" Rainbow took a serious look at her hand for a moment before smiling devilishly. "Yeah! And I'm gonna beat you into the ground on this turn!"

"Go ahead and try it." I boasted.

"First I'll activate Rare Value!" Rainbow exclaimed. "This allows you to choose one of my gems and send it to the graveyard, but then I can draw two cards!"

"Uh, the yellow one I guess." I said, pointing at her topaz.

"Fair enough." Rainbow drew her cards as her topaz shattered but then sported a devilish grin. "I summon Crystal Beast Sapphire Pegasus!" Rainbow summoned her monster, a glistening white Pegasus with brilliant gold wings and a horn made from pure sapphire. "Its ability allows me to put yet another Crystal Beast onto my Spell\Trap zone!" Sure enough, a shiny purple gem materialized in Rainbow's backrow.

"Good gracious." I said with faux concern.

"Laugh it up now Twilight, but this next card's gonna…" Rainbow paused to think of something clever to say "…help me win!" She didn't succeed. "I activate another Rare Value!"

"Wow, I'm really impressed." I shrugged and batted my hand limply at Rainbow's purple stone. "I guess I'll pick the purple gem this time."

"Awesome, now I'll draw two cards and activate my Crystal Blessing!" Rainbow bellowed, sliding the card into the Spell\Trap slot on the tray. "This lets me put my Topaz Tiger and Amethyst Cat back onto my field as Spell cards! Not only that, but I'm gonna use this Crystal Beacon card to summon an Amber Mammoth from my deck!" Rainbow's Mammoth was a big doofy gray elephant with coiffed white hair, two sets of tusks and an orange gem on its forehead, and with only 1700 ATK it wasn't exactly a force to be reckoned with.

"I'm shaking." I muttered.

"You should be, cuz my Pegasus is attacking your Strength!" Rainbow said proudly. The crowd gasped and I just arched an eyebrow because Rainbow's Pegasus had 1800 ATK, compared to my Strength's 2000. I half expected Rainbow to pull some crazy stunt to turn the attack in her favor, but my magician swung her staff at Rainbow's charging Pegasus, smashing it into pieces and dropping Rainbow's Life to 3200.

"Why. Why did you even?" I asked incredulously.

"All a part of my master plan, Twilight!" Rainbow congratulated herself as her Pegasus became a blue gem on her backline alongside her other three gems. "Because now that I have four Crystal Beasts in my Spell\Trap zone, I can play this! Crystal Abundance!"

"That card destroys all the cards on the field!" I gasped, but then I held my mouth open in stunned silence once I realized something. "But you have to tribute your four Crystal Beasts to do it, and the only card on my field is my _one_ magician."

Rainbow said nothing, only having a confident smile on her face like always, as her Spell card did its work. The four gems on her field coalesced and became one, then turned into a roaring rainbow flood that washed my magician and her mammoth away, and I couldn't help but cringe as my monster was destroyed.

"Now since I took out one of your monsters with that card, I get to summon one Crystal Beast monster from my graveyard," Rainbow explained "and I choose Sapphire Pegasus again!" Rainbow's Pegasus returned in beautiful fashion, spreading its golden wings and realizing yet another gem, this one a shiny green, on Rainbow's field.

"Still waiting for the part where I'm supposed to be blown away." I said.

"I'm not done yet, Twilight!" Rainbow exclaimed, thrusting her fist at me. "I'm gonna activate my Foolish Burial, sending my Ruby Carbuncle from my deck to the graveyard, which puts all the pieces into place!"

"What pieces?" I asked, my eyes widening as I realized what she meant. "You have all seven Crystal Beasts on the field or in your graveyard now, don't you?"

"That's right!" Rainbow grinned from ear to ear. "Which allows me to summon the awesome, super cool, mega rad, ultra amazing and spectacular… _Rainbow Dragon!_ " The Rainbow Dragon was a giant serpentine dragon, gems of every conceivable color adorning its sleek white body and huge feathery wings stretching proudly outward from its back. Its horned maw roared at my empty field, ready to bite down on my Life Points with its awe-inspiring 4000 ATK… except for one thing.

"You already ended your Battle Phase." I said drolly, slapping my own forehead. "You can't attack me with the Rainbow Dragon this turn."

"R-right, yeah." Rainbow blushed and looked nonchalantly over to the side. "I knew that." And with her hand now empty, there was nothing for Rainbow to do except end her turn. "Alright, my turn's over… But next turn! Next turn I knock you out!"

"Unfortunately, Rainbow…" I scoffed as I drew my card very overdramatically. "There won't be a next turn." I took a look at my hand, gauging whether or not I could actually follow through on my claim. Turns out, if I played this just right, I could absolutely end things on this turn.

"Yeah?" Rainbow laughed. "If you think you're so tough, then bring it on!"

"If you insist." I smiled. After doing a little quick math in my head, I had my move planned out. Go from Magician to High Priestess to Eternity to Power to Master and then BAM! The game was mine. Now just to pull it off! "I summon Spellbook Magician of Prophecy, whose Effect allows me to add Spellbook of Power from my deck to my hand!" This magician was much younger looking than Strength, lethargic and bored with a big floppy blue wizard hat and a blue robe that almost looked like pajamas. That said, Magician's ATK was a measly 500 so I needed to give him some backup and fast.

"Wow, now _I'm_ shaking." Rainbow said mockingly.

"You will be after I reveal three Spellbook cards in my hand to Special Summon my High Priestess of Prophecy!" I said, showing Rainbow the three Spellbook cards 'Eternity', 'Master' and 'Power'.

My High Priestess appeared on the field in a dazzling shimmer of light. She had wild pink hair and a majestic, wise and calm air about her. She wore sleek form-fitting white clothes that bared her shoulders, with gloves that reached her forearms, and a cute white witch hat. But with only 2500 ATK she was no match for Rainbow Dragon, at least not in terms of combat. However…

"First I'll give my High Priestess a boost with… this!" I showed off my Spellbook of Power. "I'm sure you remember how it works." The red glow of the Spellbook washed over my Priestess, raising her ATK to 3500.

"But that's not all!" I announced. "Now I'll activate Spellbook of the Master, which copies the power of one Spellbook in my graveyard, and I bet you know which one I'm using!"

A black book fell into the hands of my Priestess, showering her with a black glow that soon shone red as it copied the Spellbook of Power, raising her ATK to 4500.

"Next I'll activate her Effect!" I said dramatically, pointing at Rainbow's dragon. "By banishing the Spellbook of Power in my graveyard, I can destroy your Rainbow Dragon!" My Priestess charged up a spell, creating a glowing red fireball in her hands before shooting it at the dragon and shattering it into pieces.

"W-what?!" Rainbow called out in shock. "How did you take out my dragon so easily?!"

"Rainbow Dragon doesn't have any built-in defenses." I chortled. "So taking it out isn't that difficult with a card Effect. Honestly, the thing's a little impractical."

"Whatever." Rainbow said in a huff, crossing her arms. "You still don't have enough points to take out all my Life Points."

"Don't I, though?" I asked haughtily. Rainbow looked at my field and reacted with shock. She was focused on my 4500 ATK Priestess and forgot about my 500 ATK Magician, which was just as valuable to my strategy. "Now my Priestess, attack Rainbow's Pegasus!"

High Priestess formed a glowing red spear in her hand that she threw into Sapphire Pegasus, destroying it instantly. Rainbow's Life was reduced to 500.

"Gee it looks like you only have 500 Life left, Rainbow." I said with a coy smirk, putting my pinky finger in front of my lips. I didn't need to point out that my Magician's ATK was 500 and that he now had a clear shot at Rainbow's Life.

"Yeah, yeah." Rainbow rolled her eyes. "Just get it over with, egghead."

"My pleasure." I said. "Magician, attack Rainbow directly!" My Magician of Prophecy formed a ball of water in his little hand, limply throwing it at Rainbow and reducing her Life Points to 0.

"The winner is Twilight Sparkle!" Pinkie screamed. "Twilight! Twilight! Twilight!"

Soon the whole crowd was chanting my name and it made me blush. I looked over at Rainbow who was trying not to smile even though she lost. I expected her to get mad, but she almost looked happy that I won.

"Good game, Twilight." Rainbow walked over to me and extended her hand.

"Good game, Rainbow." I said as I shook her hand, smiling like a goof.

"Wow that was amazing you guys!" Pinkie yelled excitedly as she charged at me and Rainbow, smothering both of us in a group hug. "Twilight was all like bam! And then Rainbow was like kaboom! Then Twilight was like kablowie! It was so cool!" She said, bouncing up and down and punching at the air.

"It was really fun to watch." Fluttershy added, brushing some hair out of her face.

"It's honestly been a long time since I had a duel that fun." I said with a smile. "We should… do it again sometime?"

"Yeah. 100%." Rainbow laughed, playfully hitting me on the shoulder. "Maybe next time I'll be able to actually do some damage!"

"Against me? I don't think so." I scoffed, Rainbow laughing at my joke.

A moment of awkward silence passed before Rainbow said "Look, it was nice seeing you guys again, but I guess I should hit the road." Without another word or even giving me or the other girls a chance to speak up, Rainbow dashed past me and headed for the door, Pinkie and Fluttershy looking expectantly at me. I sighed and ran after Rainbow.

"Wait, hold on." I caught up to her on the hardwood entryway and lightly grabbed her forearm. "Do you want to get lunch this afternoon? We could… we could catch up?" I said with a big smile that I forced on my face.

"That sounds…" Rainbow looked at me skeptically, crossing her arms and frowning. I was starting to feel really awkward and vulnerable, like I wanted to kick Rainbow in the shin and run away or something, just to get the pressure off. Rainbow looked back at Pinkie and Fluttershy, causing me to look back at them too as they made enthusiastic supportive gestures. "That sounds awesome. I'm totally down for that." She said with a smile, patting me on the shoulder as I breathed a sigh of relief.

"Fantastic!" I cheered, extending my hand to Rainbow. "2:00 sound good? The Taco Town down the street from here?"

"Heck yeah!" Rainbow firmly clasped my hand. "Who can say no to Taco Town?"

"My thoughts exactly." I couldn't help but beam. I had no idea, but seeing Rainbow again in so long made me realize how much I missed her. We had a lot of arguments that turned into ugly fights but… I missed her. I missed all the adventures and laughter we used to share. "I'll see you then."

I needed to make things right this time.


End file.
